Pussy Riot's Maria Alyokhina begins hunger strike

Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina has gone on a hunger strike to protest a Russian court's refusal to let her attend her own parole hearing.

Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina has made a hunger strike vow in protest at a Russian court’s refusal to let her attend her own parole hearing.

The musician and political activist has been told she must stay in her jail cell for the hearing this week. She announced her intentions by video link, saying, “Let the troika (group of three) sitting here – the judge, the prosecutor and the colony employee – decide my fate”.

Maria was jailed last year, alongside her fellow bandmates, after being found guilty of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” after a performance in a church which called for the Virgin Mary to drive president Putin from power.